Recruiting of engineers for robotics jobs is accelerating rapidly with exponentially more jobs open than engineers qualified to fill them.
This was confirmed in both my recent article and appearance on WGN Radio. Please click here to view this piece and listen to the segment in its entirety.
Ten States Where Jobs Are Replaced By Robots
• A new report entitled “How Robots Are Beginning To Affect Workers And Their Wages” by William M. Rogers III and Richard Freeman lists the top 10 areas of the US with the highest robot intensity.
• The number of manufacturing robots has more than doubled to almost two per 1,000 workers in the US in the last decade.
• Some studies predict as many as 50% of all workers are at risk of losing their jobs to automation.
The report also shows robots are displacing younger, less-educated and minority workers in the Midwest manufacturing industry at the highest rates. On the other hand, findings also show that a strong economic recovery over the past decade has saved many jobs and slowed automation in the United States.
The Rogers and Freeman report also shows robots have not yet brought the dire nationwide effects that many previously warned about. The impact of robots varies across groups of workers, regions and industries.
Estimates of the potential impacts of robots on the US economy vary widely. Some studies predict that as many as 50% of all workers are at risk of losing their jobs to automation in the coming decades.
Moreover, the Rogers and Freeman report examines what actually happened following the Great Recession and economic downturn from 2007 to 2009. The impact of rising automation followed the US housing collapse and global financial crisis. The period from 2009 to 2017saw the use of industrial robots in the United States more than double.
Where are robots replacing workers now?
“There have been clear losers with increased automation—namely, younger, less-educated manufacturing workers in the Midwest and younger, minority workers in these industries in particular,” says coauthor William Rodgers. Rodgers is a professor of public policy at Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
“These industries not only have the highest number of robots in use, but are also experiencing the fastest growth in robot adoption,” he added.
Rodgers also claims the economic recovery of the past decade has masked some of the adverse impacts on Midwest manufacturing workers’ jobs and wages. Robots would have displaced many more jobs than they did absent such a strong recovery.
The report found the top 10 areas with the greatest robot intensity are:
1) Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California;
2) Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Illinois;
3) Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas;
4) Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona;
5) Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan;
6) Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin;
7) Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland;
8) San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California;
9) Indianapolis, Indiana;
10) Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio.
The researchers also mapped out robot intensity in the 262 most affected metropolitan areas in the US.
Other key findings:
• During the Great Recession, robot intensity—the use of robots—plummeted. But since 2009, robot intensity has sharply increased nationwide.
• States in the Midwest (the East North Central, or ENC, census division) consistently have the highest robot intensities. These are typically at least twice the intensity of all other regions.
• Since 2009, the number of manufacturing robots has more than doubled—from 0.813 per 1,000 workers to 1.974 per 1,000 workers.
• The adoption of robots since the Great Recession has been accompanied by employment gains for some groups of workers. These include young, less-educated men and less-educated adult women. Other groups appear not to have been affected.
• Robots have sizeably decreased wages for young, less-educated men and women in Midwest manufacturing industries.
The findings suggest some workers without a college degree may benefit from robotization at its current stage and the pace of robot growth, provided the right economic conditions are in place.
Rodgers says the experiences of young Midwestern minority and women workers, as well as employers and their communities, can be of benefit. That history can help other parts of the country prepare for and minimize the economic, social and cultural adjustment costs associated with the introduction and diffusion of robots.
Recruiting Robotics Increases Software And Other Engineers
Though recruitment of robotics will decrease certain jobs, recruiting of robotic engineers will continue at a rapid rate. This is especially true for software engineers.
In a previous article entitled, “Artificial Intelligence Engineering Job Recruiting 5 tips,” I stated software engineer jobs will grow 24 percent between 2016 and 2026 according to the latest US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. This is at a much faster pace than the average rate for most other professions. Also, the hiring demand is even greater for recruiting of engineers needed for robotics.
Thus societies and governments have two choices: 1) they can get angry at the replacement of certain jobs caused by robotics recruiting increases or 2) vastly improve STEM education for recruiting more engineers for the growing numbers of robotics jobs that will be created in the future.
I personally recommend improving STEM education for the recruiting of more engineers needed for robotics as the solution.
Call me today at 312-944-4000 to discuss how we can assist with your R&D, engineering, scientific, technical, IT and manufacturing recruitment efforts in the highly competitive fields of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) as well as Virtual (and Augmented) Reality. Or click here for my full contact information.
